I only watched the first few minutes basically out of sheer curiosity. For the rest of it I will wait till the translation is done since I know this is in the works, and it really IS hard work indeed.Lots of respect if this person gets it done, truly. It's a nearto herculean effort for sure.

I think I understood a few words basically because they sometimes resembled or were exactly identical even to Dutch and sometimes German. But I still feel I really miss a lot especially when there is more talk going on, so I will wait before I watch the rest of it because I think it will be even more enjoyable to watch if I can really know all that is going on.

It's definitely looking promising though from what I have seen sofar, so I'm really looking forward to watching the episode, whenever it may be done (no problem to wait a while, it's definitely worth the wait to me!)

« Last Edit: April 12, 2012, 07:04:57 PM by Topita »

Logged

Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.

Ok, I don't understand Norwegian, but I'll do my best with a recap. (Slight edit: of course, immediately after writing this I find...something.)

It's the first snowy starting line of The Amazing Race! There's Freddy standing on the top of Holmenkollbakken, a ski jump in Oslo. He introduces the teams. They are:

Morten & Truls- Brothers. They're also good friends. They consider themselves lucky to work at a toy store. They see everything as positive.Karim & Khabat- Friends/mates. They're waiters who don't like losing. The say they are they aren't the best losers in Oslo. In fact they are the worst losers. (I find this slightly funny)Bjarne & Vilde- Friends. A male/female friend team! They're lounging around on a boat. "We throw ten balls up in the air and see how many we catch when they come down." Pål Christian & Ivar- Third Cousins. There're work in a pub, and were friends before they found out they were related. People won't see them as a threat, they say. They're also single. Ladies?Tor Einar & Cathrine- Father/Daughter. They want to get to know each other more. Dad is the boss.Julie & Vichy- Girlfriends. They might not be the best, but they're good. They finish their intro with a toast and I instantly think of Joe & Bill. Also, Vichy has an entire copy of Moby Dick tattooed on her wrist.Martha & Elise- Sisters. Ok, I'm glad I found this part translated. They're talking about how their parents are nudists and how other people might see this as weird.Ivar & Frank- Twins. They say they blame each other for problems. They are shown picking out clothes at the Salvation Army, although the store they were at looked much fancier than my local Salvation Army. They're also wearing about 7 scarves.Cathrine & Michelle- Best Friends. They say they do everything together. They're at a zoo with some kids and are holding a really big snake. Later they are seen eating dessert with the same kids. Why wasn't the snake invited?Kari & Bjørn- Married. The oldest team this season, and the second team whose name is an inconvenience to my English keyboard. In their spare time they like to decapitate birds and stand in the middle of nowhere.Kenneth & Hakan- Co-Workers. Hakan just got his drivers license. Kenneth is as bad a navagator as he is out of shape. They say they won't win. That's really encouraging.

Ok, now everyone is standing in a field of snow next to the ski jump. Typical host speech that we've all heard, but then everyone gasps, which I'm guessing that Freddy just told them that only 10 teams will leave the country. Ready, set, go! Everyone runs to the clues on their backpacks. And we've already got a task! On a nearby fence there are two boards for each team. One contains 20 country flags and the other has a phrases in three different languages. They must match the flag to the appropriate language (Russia, United Arab Emirates, and China) When they show the correct flags to Freddy they can get in their car and get a recorded message. Most teams get it quickly, but the Twins and Cathrine & Michelle struggle and work together. Kari & Bjørn take the longest but eventually get it. Kenneth & Hakan get lost despite leaving 6th, because this is one of their first times driving! Some of the teams are crazy drivers en route to the airport.

At the airport, teams must find their clue at 1 of 4 locations (Information desk, lost property, cafe, and assistance). There are only a few clues at each, so teams have to find the place that still has one. Not much of a problem, except for a few teams. Cathrine & Michelle and Martha & Elise are constantly in racing each other, but each place they find is already out of clues. Kari & Bjørn arrive at the airport later than all but one team but find a clue quickly. Kenneth & Hakan have finally found the airport, and they plan on heading straight to the information desk, which happens to be where the remaining clues are. Who gets there first? The girls do, and there is a lot of jumping and screaming. Freddy eliminates the Co-Workers and Hakan throws a fit, ripping off his mic and throwing down his pack, but I don't blame him. But hey, they were right. They didn't win.

Oh, but where do the clues take them? Dubai! Everyone is on the same flight. When they arrive, they must find a camel owner named Hassan (There is a Hassan for each team). Hassan will take them to his car and drive them outside the city to their next cluebox. The Twins and Sisters once again are having trouble, and once again work together to find their Hassans. At the next cluebox a team member must get on a camel while the other guides it around a course. Cathrine & Michelle arrive first, but after one of them slides forward and is in a position that would be extremely uncomfortable to one of the guys, camel handler has to readjust the blankets. The girls and Bjarne & Vilde finish the task at about the same time. The Cousins arrive toward the front but also have trouble with their camel. The sisters and twins arrive much later and one of the sisters is almost trampled by the camel. And this brings me to a question. Why do some teams from the foreign versions have trouble speaking English, but always know how to curse in it?

Teams must now travel to the Atlantis Resort on the Palm Jumierah, say goodbye to Hassan, and search for an aquarium. Roadblock! One of them has to dive down and grab a clue from a tank that has rays and sharks! Nobody has much trouble with it. Next clue, it's time for every Amazing Race fan's favorite waterslide- The Leap of Faith! Nobody freaks out. Teams have to go to the Gold Souk, but the monorail to it comes in an hour! Everyone catches up. So now teams have to ride a type of boat to the Gold Souk. Karim & Khabat arrive first and gets a large lead. Julie & Vichy get a private boat and shoo other teams away. Kari & Bjørn do something wrong, maybe they didn't take the boat? Ivar & Frank almost do something wrong here, but correct their mistake. Once teams get to the cluebox, they get have to do a detour. In one side, teams must load 10 large bags of tea(?) onto a boat. In the other detour, teams must first go to a specific jewelry store and get an address, at which they get another address, and here they get their clue. The strength one doesn't take long because the bags are right next to the boat, and the address detour has teams searching for one shop among the 3,000,000+ jewelry shops there. All but Martha & Elise do the strength side.

The next clue tells teams to go to the world's tallest building, also known as the Burj Khalifa or the Burj Dubai if you're like me and can't remember the correct name. On the way, Cathrine & Michelle freak out and tell the driver to turn around, but then change their mind. They were in the front of the pack and fell several places due to this, but what happened? If you don't speak Norwegian, will you ever understand what happened here? (Hint: keep reading.) Karim & Khabat and Julie & Vichy are the two teams in the lead. The waiters get to the cluebox on an observation deck first and it's the clue for the pitstop! Teams must now go to the nearby Burj Park! Go go go!!! Karim & Khabat are 1st, Julie & Vichy are 2nd, Bjarne & Vilde are 3rd. Kari & Bjørn arrive 4th but get a penalty for not taking the boats. Tor Einar & Cathrine, Morten & Truls, and Pål Christian & Ivar are 4th, 5th, and 6th. Cathrine & Michelle arrive and Freddy gives them their pack (the one with passports I think?). Apparently Bjarne & Vilde found it in a cab or somewhere and gave it to him. The girls are 7th. Ivar & Frank are 9th. It's down to the married couple waiting out their penalty and Martha & Elise. And..............................

Kari & Bjørn's penalty runs out and they can check in 9th. Martha & Elise are 10th but are not eliminated. Lucky them.

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

Oh, but where do the clues take them? Dubai! Everyone is on the same flight. When they arrive, they must find a camel owner named Hassan (There is a Hassan for each team). Hassan will take them to his car and drive them outside the city to their next cluebox. The Twins and Sisters once again are having trouble, and once again work together to find their Hassans. At the next cluebox a team member must get on a camel while the other guides it around a course. Cathrine & Michelle arrive first, but after one of them slides forward and is in a position that would be extremely uncomfortable to one of the guys, camel handler has to readjust the blankets. The girls and Bjarne & Vilde finish the task at about the same time. The Cousins arrive toward the front but also have trouble with their camel. The sisters and twins arrive much later and one of the sisters is almost trampled by the camel. And this brings me to a question. Why do some teams from the foreign versions have trouble speaking English, but always know how to curse in it?

That is so true . Reminds of the time I lived in the philippines end nearly everyone who asks me to teach them french wants to learn curse words first.

By the way, the teams do speak english frequently and I though they spoke it pretty well.

Will the sisters get a penalty for arriving last at the Pit Stop? (like a Speed Bump, giving out their posessions, Marked for elimination) or it will be like the first non eliminations of TAR (without any penalty)?

I enjoyed the premiere! It's nice to add another version to The Amazing Race family, even with the language barrier!

I really hated that airport elimination but I love the concept of finding the tickets in one of four locations. The race to the different locations was pretty intense! I would have preferred the last team receiving a Speedbump or some sort of penalty rather than elimination though. It was nice to see a Roadblock, Detour, and some Route Infos on the first leg! Oh, and no pitstop greeter.

Overall, the cast seems pretty great so far. I really like Martha & Elise but their performance on this leg was dismal. They were at the bottom of the pack, if not in last, for the majority of the leg. For a second, I though Martha (Martha & Elise) was going to have a Mika-moment at the Leap of Faith! Hopefully they can recover on the next leg!

As a long time follower of The Amazing Race US, being from Norway, I found it exciting but also odd to see a Norwegian version of the show.

I mean, who could have believed that little Norway would be able to find the resources and will for the (so far) first European version of the magnificent tv-series. Certainly not me, so all respect to the producers. Remember, they don't have the budget success that the US version has gained, so I guess that's why the first leg winners didn't get any prizes. TV2 says that if the first season is successful, they might produce a new one next year. It all depends on viewer interest and ratings.

Still, I found it very strange sometimes to watch this. I'm so used to Phil, and english speaking contestants, that I often times rolled my eyes in annoyance of small details happening during the episode. I'm not saying it was a bad show, it was certainly refreshing and different, but compared to the us version it was missing the special 'ooomph' I'm so accustomed to.

It was actually funny to see how Freddy dos Santos, the host, reacted to being a host for a tv show instead of a soccer player. He did remarkably well, though he didn't have the empaty on the pitstop mat as Phil often has. Freddy was more like 'yay-I'm-on-a-world-trip-with-my-new-found-buddies,-high-five' sort of thing This was the impression I got, and it was pretty funny actually. This is not criticism, but personal observation.

I'm looking forward to Monday for a new episode, and I'm sure many of you are waiting in anticipation for a new fresh episode you won't understand a word of until subtitles are ready

Ya'all need to go learn a new language just for this series

Have fun with the new member of The Amazing Race family. I know I will

Watched it (language differences aside), so far so good. The host was awesome. The editing could use some improvement though.I just have one complaint: Production people, cameramen, etc. are everywhere in the background.

Watched it without subtitles, know i'm gonna do it again because i did not understood a thing . But so far, so good. The episode had some good moments and bad. First of all that i swa was the fact that the episode was over 1 hour long. I thought, that was awesome, no 45 min episodes - but after watching the whole thing, i can easilly remove at least 30 minutes, because the editing was focused at teams, and in my opinion it should be focusing about the race. The beginning should be cut at least in half because talking, talking, talking was BORING. But then when the teams were in their destination, i thought that the race would be beginning - i was mistaken. I mean it could be the fact that i haven't understood a thing, but till the monorail the race was not abut racing eachother, just "enjoying the view". I mean seriously two last teams with the possibility of elmination, instead of searching for a driver they are talking politely with eachother. Are you serious? Another thing that i can blame the editors, was the lack of dynamics. In the first half of the episode i wasn't feeling the "Race" vibe.

Host is good, takes his job seriously. Was good to see Dubai, even if that was 3/4 of a copy of the American version of the leg. And i am waiting for more ;-).

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

I really liked the starting line task, something so simple and yet it proved quite difficult for a lot of people. The editing, the jumping from one team to another, loosing the placings a little etc, reminded me a little of TAR 1. Other than that it was not bad, we show a leg packed with action, teams changing places all the time. It was interesting and I'm waiting for Ep 2, especially now that I got to know the teams a little, thanks to Polarbear's subs.

Ooh, there's not even wikipedia information about Leg 2 yet, is there? I'll write something quick that will just be outlines, nothing exact. Important stuff is bolded

Okay, a quick recap of the last leg. Hakan & Kenneth eliminated and Martha & Elise saved in Dubai. Credits with Freddy talking over it. Is it a "The most daring competition ever attempted..."? That's actually a question for the Norwegians. Khabat & Karim leave at 9:52, so it might have been a 18 or 24 hour pitstop. Fly to New Delhi, India. The Twins think that New Delhi is in the airport(?), but all the teams all get on the same flight. Then they get on a bus to Agra. A few teams get on an express bus that leaves later, and for what might be the first time in TAR history, it also arrives later.

They go to the Red Fort and must find three guys with pieces to help them find their next clue. Four sides of the pieces have sentence fragments which should say "Shen Jehen's/ wife is next to/ the black throne". They have to not only find this lady, but also show her the correct sentence. Now teams ride on a horse carriage to some market to get their next clue. Detour! Teams have a choice between carrying a bunch of wool a few kilometers to a shop and hope that they have enough (there is no scale at the beginning), or design some tile art thing that honestly looks much faster. Only Bjarne & Vilde had to go back and gather more wool, which drops them from 1st to 7th.

Teams now go to someplace that is across the river from the Taj Mahal where they make dung cakes. I think they make 50, but they don't have to throw them on the wall. Next they take a basket of dried cakes and place them into a stylized pile that kind of reminds me of Carmen Miranda. Here is where Martha & Elise's Non-Elimination comes in. From what I understood, they were given a "Handicap". They (as Polar Bear describes below) had to make 50 dung cakes and stack the dried ones higher. After teams are done with the poo, they get the clue for the Roadblock. Do a jigsaw puzzle of the Taj Mahal. That's really it. When their done, teams run to the nearby pit stop (It's just north of the Taj Mahal across the river, if you want to see yourself.) And the great thing is how much Karim struggles with it. It was really bad. But the Cousins took too long to figure out the sentence from earlier. They get to the Roadblock and see 9 finished puzzles, so the one doing it quits the task right away, and they walk to the pitstop and are eliminated.